Council brings acting CEO job forward

South Gippsland Shire Council has brought forward the start the of new acting CEO Bryan Sword’s job by one month to cover the current CEO Tim Tamlin’s “approved leave of absence” from May 25 to June 24, 2019.

At the council’s ordinary meeting held at the Leongatha RSL on Wednesday May 29, 2019, five of the seven councillors present voted to appoint the shire’s present development services director Bryan Sword as short-term acting CEO for the month, a position he has already begun.

Mr Sword was seen sitting in the CEO/acting CEO’s chair at the special meeting, also held at the Leongatha RSL on Wednesday May 22, 2019.

As required by sections 80 B and 80C in the Local Government Act 1989, that municipal staff declare conflicts of interest, Mr Sword left the meeting room before debate on the appointment began last Wednesday.

The shire’s acting CEO position was originally set to run for one year from June 25, 2019 to June 24, 2020. Mr Sword was given that job at a special meeting of the council held on May 8, 2019.

With an earlier starting date, the acting CEO’s job will now also end a month earlier, on May 24, 2020.

Mr Sword’s appointment came after the council had previously, and somewhat controversially, chosen not to re-appoint Mr Tamlin to the 12-month acting position, even though Mr Tamlin had been the only applicant.

Mr Tamlin, who had worked for the past 10 years as the shire’s CEO, applied for and was subsequently granted annual leave for the final month of his appointment, which officially ends on June 24, 2019.

Mr Tamlin begins his new job, at a firm of civil engineering contractors based in Pakenham, for which he has worked in the past and is located near his home, on Tuesday June 25, 2019.

At last Wednesday’s meeting, councillors discussed the wording of the three-point recommendation covering the acting CEO short term appointment, with a proposed amendment over-ruled as “not adding or removing anything to the original motion”.

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